Mike and May
by Sven99
Summary: Follow the story of Mike, a survivor trying to hold on for dear life against impossible odds. Long after suffering the loss of his love, Karen, he still feels a pain and a missing part of his arduous life. Can he cope after running into his former love?
1. Rude Awakening

( A fanfiction based in the host novel by Stephanie Meyer. Note, I am not her, but I love her work. This is my first published fanfiction, so please run your word processors through it.)

_Karen…_

I woke up on my mat, covered in cold sweat and dazed. A coyote howled in the distance and crickets chirped but otherwise I was alone. Alone… still after I she had been taken. After I couldn't save her. No, I couldn't blame myself. It was four years ago. She wouldn't have wanted me to dwell on it.

I packed up my things. My day was going to start early. It felt like forever since I had slept under a roof, but that was the price of freedom. When the days melted together and I wondered what I kept fighting for I only needed to remember her gaze, the gaze of terror as they dragged her away. It was painful, but it was necessary, like iodine on a wound.

Judging by the position of the sun, it was around six o'clock in the morning. That one of the few things I had learned from boy scouts before I dropped out to focus on my sedentary potential. It was the only way I could tell how long I traveled, and once upon a time it was the only joy I had when I watched it with Karen. There I go again, I still can't banish her from the crevices of my mind. Not after two weeks, nor after four years. I wondered if they made her into a brain bug, or just did away with her. Those things always preached love and hope, but under the bright eyes they got rid of any human stupid enough not to hide. Karen bore into my mind like a brain bug more days than not...

My upper body was still quite weak but years of running and hiking had given me some dexterity. Unfortunately years of hiding have left me with a bad back, and my asthma had limited my mobility. If I hadn't stocked up on one of those long lasting inhalers before the invasion I would never have made it. My hair was unpleasantly long and bothered my eyes more days that not. I could cut the amber bunch of knots off, but then what would protect me from the sun?

I stepped over another hill, wondering how many more hills like it I would wander over before I finally dropped, when something caught my eye. It took a few minutes to focus, but there was no mistaking it. About a mile away, like a gift from god, was a gas station. It looked old, like one of those classic ma and pa pit stops, but I would bet the last ounce of water I had that it was inhabited. A good thing too; I actually was down to an ounce of water. I reached for my pack to fumble out some sunglasses before I headed towards the station. My only hope was this was a heavily hiked piece of Arizona, or I would be running today.

I always wondered why I never left the desert after she was taken. I always hated the sand, the heat and the absolute lack of water of the area. I wanted to hide away in the Cascades of Washington where forests were full and rain was plenty, but Karen always loved the sand, and I always loved Karen so I tolerated potential heatstroke for her. Perhaps a part of me is perpetuating the insane idea that she's still alive somewhere, and that sooner or later she'll come looking for me. Her body would, but not her. The brainbugs always won out as far as I knew.


	2. The Somber Reunion

I slipped on my sunglasses as I started pacing downhill. I didn't have a believable scar on my neck, but my hair normally covered my neck so as long as it stayed put I would be safe. This was the best idea I could come up with short of using brute force. My knife was stuck in my pocket just in case. Now it was do or die.

I walked into the store with the awkward smile the brainbugs always wore. I wondered why they were so happy. Maybe the host was really in bliss, or maybe one of the parasitical tendrils hit just the right nerve in the brain. Nah, they were probably just overtaken by the uniqueness of humanity, but then again that buss should've worn off six years ago.

I looked terrible; I can see it in the cashier's eyes as he meets my expression. I'm dirty, tired and starving and jusging by the fact there was only one other customer in the store, this wasn't a well-traveled area. I had to say something quickly before he got suspicious.

"Nothing like a morning hike in the desert." I said with an exhilarated tone, like my near death trek was both intentional and pleasant. He seemed to buy it, with a lump of salt. At least he didn't look at me with suspicion. This brainbug's host was about thirty, balding and slightly overweight. He must have been 'pa'.

"Hmm we don't get many hikers around here, not enough paths to walk or scenery to enjoy." He said with an ounce of curiosity. I suppose I knew that already. Instinctively speaking, I had always traveled where the population wasn't dense.

I gave an amused smile. "But where's the fun in walkways? Anyone can walk where someone else has, that takes no challenge." He bought it. I was right after all, there was no real challenge to walking a dirt path.

He rung up the bottled waters and protein bars I had grabbed rather quickly. Just for the sake of trying to find an old favorite, I browsed the shop's racks once more. It was then I noticed the girl in the back who had been eying me, and why my instincts had told me to get far away the whole time. It was a seeker, one who hunts what little of humanity is left. She was short, with an olive-skinned complexion and sandy hair. I could have slapped myself for not noticing her pistol or black uniform sooner.

She glared at me but I pretended not to notice her, just keep smiling and acting like nothing was wrong. Hopefully she wouldn't act on my suspicious appearance. It wasn't strange for a brainbug to hike, but it was odd for them to go this far from civilization. Oh god, she had her fingers on her gun. I was sure if I got the drop on her I could disarm her easily. I never understood why seemingly the most physically unfit people were in charge of security in the brainbug world.

Her eyes kept on me, reading me like a danger sign. I knew she knew. I grabbed what I had gathered (currency no longer existed) and was making my way to the door with a suspicious haste. I nodded at the shopkeeper, and then felt a familiar hand on my shoulder. The seeker spun me around. She looked at me puzzlingly, her hand fidgeting her gun. My sunglasses were on, so at least she couldn't see my eyes were missing the silver rings attributed to hosts. I couldn't see her eyes because she was also wearing sunglasses, but I knew they weren't warm and friendly.

The parasite t had kept her host in relatively good condition. Her hair was short and well combed, probably in an attempt to get all the Arizona sand out of it. Her button nose and cheeks were flaring, a sign I used with Karen to tell when she was distressed and trying to hide it.

Her hand never loosened off the handle of the gun, nor did she smile. Those were the two true signs of seekers, as their dirty work often made them slightly bitterer than the rest. I was the first to break the silence.

"Yes, how can I help you seeker?" I said with a smile, pretending not to tremble.

"This may see odd… erm…"

"Blossoms to the sun." I gave her a fake name I had heard one night.

"But this body has a strange familiarity to yours. I do believe our hosts knew each other."

"Really?" The one thing that bothered me most about the parasites; more than the genocide or enslavement, more than the names and the nomadic lifestyle I was forced into, was the fact they found everything interesting on this world. Each day was like a new wonder to them, and it always drove me crazy. I guess they weren't able to take things for granted, or comprehend anxiety.

"Indeed. As a matter of fact there's a faint longing from this body to yours." Now I was intrigued. She did seem familiar, but everyone I knew had either moved when the were infested, or been disposed of.

"Would you mind telling me where you first arrived on earth?"

"Why I awoke at the Phoenix hospital about a month ago." Just long enough to have been questioned for the location of other refugees, but not so long that it didn't make chronological sense to her.

"Really? Do you currently reside there?" To answer yes would invite questioning as to why I was so far away from the city without a car, or it would have if I had been dealing with a human. To say no would beg a new series of questions. I wasn't sure what to say, but I couldn't act like I was making it up as I went along.

"Actually I am residing there with a romantic interest I'm supposed to meet soon." Did that sound too suspicious?

"Ah, very good. Have a nice day." Her smile was sour. I turned around slowly…

"Oh Blossoms, one more thing, would you mind explaining what happened to your insertion scar?" The funny thing about that was that I did have a fake scar, but without their medicines it didn't heal properly and so it's rather disfiguring. Had I really been a host, they would've healed that wound, along with any other scratch to leave a clean mark, which left me fresh out of excuses. She must've moved my hair when she spun me around. I felt so foolish.

As she raised her pistol I shoved her into a rack of potato chips, knocking her off balance. I quickly grabbed for the gun, struggling with her for its control. They really didn't teach their seekers tactics, or she would have known not to get so close to me without un-holstering the pistol first. The seeker was weaker than me, but I was still exhausted from hiking. After I few seconds of struggling I slammed her hand onto a shelf, causing her to drop the gun. I scooped it up, and then noticed the seeker's large sunglasses feel to the ground. It was her…

_Karen?_

There wasn't time to process what had happened. Without thinking I shoved Karen… or Karen's body to the ground and pointed at 'pa' who had been dialing for the seekers.

"Drop the phone or she dies!" I screamed at the nearly hysterical shopkeeper who had been dialing for more seekers. They didn't have silent alarms in stores anymore, as souls never thought to commit crimes, so I wouldn't have to worry about being caught off guard.

"My partner's outside human, you won't make it back to the desert. Turn yourself in!" Karen's body ordered in a voice that sounded quite terrified. I mine as well have been the boogey man with how my 'savage' nature terrified souls.

I walked up to the counter and cut the phone line in two with the knife I had forgotten about till now, and then knocked the cashier out with the butt of the pistol. The seeker gasped. It was odd, I'd thought the seekers desensitized to violence. Knowing I had to hurry before her partner got impatient and decided to investigate, I tossed more water bottles and whatever food I could grab into a pack, and then did the same with a reusable bag I threw over my shoulder. I gestured for the seeker to get up and walk outside first, and then cautiously stepped out myself, grabbing a pack of something labeled 'no pain' for my back as I walked out.

Her partner was a rather scrawny man leaning on the hood of a convertible. He jumped when he saw us, but one warning was enough to get him to slide his weapon over to me. I shoved Karen's body to him while I scooped up the second pistol.

Taking careful aim, I shoot the tires of the shopkeeper's car as well as the seekers' Oldsmobile. I suppose I could've used one to get away, but where would I go? Still, there was a chance of being followed, so I would need some collateral until I got deep into the desert again.

"You" I pointed the gun at Karen's body. That state of sheer defiance on her face quickly turned to terror with a loaded gun pointed at her. She looked like she had already been shot.

"You're coming with me to make sure I get out dodge without fuss. Grab some more supplies, and then get back out here." She sneered, and then went back into the shop. I didn't have to worry about her pulling something creative like a bug spray-made mace, mainly because I was going to tie her up when I got to safety.

By the time she came back out her partner was bound and blindfolded so he couldn't track us. Since in all likelihood they would still be able to follow us it was necessary to keep Karen's body. Besides… I was getting tired of talking to myself in the desert. I checked Karen's bag after I tied her arms behind her. She had thought to use bug spray to blind me.

"You won't get far!" The male seeker shouted we began marching back to the desert. We headed East towards the mountains.


	3. The other side

Karen's body walked about five steps ahead of me, without saying a word. She seemed more disappointed in herself than angry. I guess because she knew who I was finally. I gave her the speech I promised to one-day give to the entire brainbug society, but realistically knew that would never happened. I had worked on the speech since this whole mess started and it changed every time, but it was one of the things that kept me going, especially when I lost her.

"And that's it. You took everything from me because you thought my people were savage. The irony is, for all the killing we've done, we've never committed genocide on a scale to match yours, so who's the real abomination?"

She didn't say anything, but I doubt she was convinced.

"Y'know that body you wear really meant something to me. I remember when I first met her in an ice cream parlor. I asked her out, she was ice cold in her rejection, but when it came time to flee I had no one else to run with…"

I thought I heard a whimper, or maybe a snicker. " We were really distant at first, her and I. Eventually, when her canteen was dry and her supplies low, I decided to show some generosity to the girl who I absolutely loathed. She was grateful. I think I had cracked her shell and saw the scared girl on the inside."

She whispered something, but I didn't hear it. "We got close after that. Our hikes usually led to us holding hands and smiling, despite the suffering we had to endure in this place. One night, I'm sure you already know about this, I told her how I really felt. She kissed me and we never separated again… or so I had hoped.

"We saw seekers coming our way and had no other option besides splitting up. I had hoped to draw their attention and let her escape, but for some reason they tailed her over me. The last I saw was those seekers dragging her into their jeep. They searched for me, but found nothing, and from that moment you brainbugs had finally taken everything that mattered to me."

"Please… stop" She whispered. I continued. Her eyes traced the ground and her shoulders drooped

"I thought about suicide, but eventually didn't go through with it, because I knew Karen would've wanted me to live. She was caring like that, always seeing the good in things, even when there was no good to be found. I was going to turn myself in to you, maybe hope you could at least reunite our bodies, but then I realized that's what you wanted. Since then I've been living like a hermit, an exile, and for what." I paused.

"For what!? Because our people didn't live up to your standards? Because our lives weren't worthy to live? Sure we killed, and we took for granted, and there was suffering, and pain, but that pain made the joy worth seeing. You can't go down once you've been at your worst. You can only go up. That's what we humans called rock bottom. We suffered, but we loved too.

"I loved too. My family, my friends, my life. I loved my dog, and my mother and father, and sister. Yes I even loved Kimberly. She was a brat, but she was my brat. I would kill you right here if it would bring the sound of her teasing me again. But I won't kill, because Karen wouldn't want that. She'd want to show you compassion."

I was sure I heard a sob. "Karen was so sweet. On my birthday she brought me a cactus. Could you believe it? In the desert. It was the most thoughtful thing I'd ever seen. She also did something else special for my birthday, but I'm sure you know what that was so there's no point in telling. There was nothing better than going to sleep in this desert, because I knew I'd wake up and see her face again. I held her close at night, because she knew I was just as scared and clueless about this new life of ours as she was. I was a scout for maybe two weeks when I was eight, but I turned in my uniform because I thought reading was a better use of my time. Oh how my face was red when we booked for the hills.

"You weren't around for those times I'm sure, but there was a small point when what few humans were left finally caught on to what had happened. We were outnumbered and most of us couldn't accept what had happened, that aliens had come to earth to steal our bodies. It was like that one movie in the eighties, y'know the one with that guy who played the alien on that space show. They were dragging what people were left out of their homes in drug-induced comas and performing insertions on the spot. Some people tried to defend themselves, but the seekers got em before they could blink. The survivors, the smart ones anyway, made for whatever deserted region they could find with whatever food and supplies they could grab. I bumped Karen while running for this very desert. She had canned goods and I had canteens so we thought it would be smart to stay together. It proved helpful."

I turned her around. This was the first time I had actually gazed into her eyes to see the silver that stole her soul. I wanted to weep, but I was fresh out of tears. She had begun to cry, but I'm sure because she thought she was going to die.

"We can camp in those hills tonight. I hope you like cold food, because we aren't lighting a fire."

I untied her long enough for us to eat. I suppose I shouldn't have wasted food on her, but I was too taken in by Karen's body to let it rot. When the time was right I'd leave her bound next to a bond fire one night and keep going. She ate a can of green beans while I chewed on some good old spam. I only allowed us each a cap of water. I knew of an oasis, but it was at least three days away, so rations were necessary. I'd leave her halfway there.

"So what do I call you braingbug?" She gave me look that read 'why does it matter?'.

"Well I'd feel worse about shooting you if you had a name."

"It's May blossoms in the wind." She blurted reluctantly.

"hmmm May. Karen did always have a spring style to her. Do you enjoy your job of killing more innocent bystanders, May?"

She sneered. "As long as there's humans they will always be a threat!" She said almost like it was rehearsed, a recording in her mind to justify her actions.

"Sure, we have a secret cave in this desert and are just waiting to grow in numbers." I said mockingly.

"get some sleep, cause You're gonna need it." I said patting her on her tied up arm. I slept on a higher elevation so she couldn't worm her way to the knife in my pack. It took me a while, but eventually I got to sleep, and unfortunately I dreamt that night.


	4. Wounded

_"__No! Get away from her!" I scream in vain. The lights are focused on her, giving me time to make a break for it. She screams in terror, but never betrays my name. _

_The lights flash to where I was, but they miss me and so does their chance to catch me. I weep bitterly that night. I feel pain, anger and loss that will never abandon me. I think about the knife in my pocket, it looks so tempting now. I pressed the blade against my beating red skin. I never tan, only burn. _

_A voice stops me. I hear her voice in my head, urging me not to do it, to keep on because I will see her again. This infuriates me more, but I obey. I'm lost, confused and lack any resources to survive. I gave Karen all the supplies because I thought I'd be the one to get caught. I'm alone, and now I truly have to be strong to survive._

I woke up to the sun in my eyes, with sweat pouring down my face. May was still asleep. It didn't last long when I screamed at the top of my lungs. I howled like an animal. May's eyes shot up as she whimpered in fear.

"Why?! Just tell me why! You could've nuked the entire planet, or death rayed it or something! You could've altered the pull of some asteroids so they'd hit us. But anything would've been better than this!" She was stunned. I don't think her people would ever have considered such actions. They really thought they were benefiting our species, didn't they?

"T-that wouldn't have helped you…"

"Help us?! Does it look like we wanted help!?" She wanted to run but couldn't. I had the chance right here; to finally make one of them suffer like that had made us suffer. Why couldn't I act on that? It wasn't just about Karen's body anymore.

"Please… please stop. I'm sorry." She was crying, it was a lie…

"I'm sorry about Karen and your family and your life. I'm sorry that she never had a chance to have babies like you talked about. I'm even sorry that I'm here."

"Liar!" I roared, almost inches away from hitting her. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to kick her, smash her face in. I wanted to pull my knife out and… but I didn't, because I had something to prove to her. I had to prove that her species was wrong; that they are the animals. I pulled her up on her feet and untied her leg bounds.

She kicked me on my butt for my trouble. A sharp rock tore into my hip. I felt blood…

"Yeah, that looked really sorry." I said clutching my side. She fumbled for the knife in my pack, but I was too sore to stop her. A few seconds later her gun was pointed at me.

"Go ahead, do it. Send me to my loved ones." She glared, her finger tightened on the trigger.

"But before you do, you might want to ask yourself which way leads to civilization." May looked puzzled, and then looked around. Unknown to her she was more tired than she thought last night. I had no problems moving her, and our camping spot, while she slept. My back would never had been able to handle such a weight before, but that 'no pain' was like magic. I began laughing, almost enjoying this near death experience.

"Do you go left, or right? Is it against the rocks or towards them? I learned one thing from the scouts, and that was to be prepared." She looked slightly terrified by this sudden turn of events.

"You have the upper hand, so what are you going to do now?"

"Tell me where to go." She ordered half terrified.

"You think it's as simple as take a left at the wiggly cactus? No, you'd need a guide, and I'm sure not going to help you."

She wept again. I was wondering if all souls wept as much as she did. It wasn't far fetched. For a genocidal group they sure were bleeding hearts.

"I'll make you a deal. I want to get to an oasis that's three days away. You want to get to civilization. Luckily, there is a path near the Oasis that leads to a road that will take you to Phoenix. You get me to that Oasis and leave me there for good, and I'll make sure you get back alive."

"Why should I trust you?" As if May had to ask.

"You know everything Karen knows, so you know I'd never endanger Karen's body. Besides, it's either trust me or wander the desert for a few weeks. I'm sure you have enough water to do that."

She was gnawing her rosy lip. Her face was flushed with both anger and humiliation.

"Fine, but we don't do anything I don't like the looks of. Like you said, I know what Karen knows, so I know what's a necessary action and what's a trap." That much was true, which meant I'd have to get creative when I finally ditched her.

She helped me up and helped wrap my cut. It was deep but I'd still be able to walk for a while.

"You need to see a doctor about this." May said with some sincere concern in her tone.

"I'll let you know if I see one." I said sarcastically. She frowned. There was a good chance that gash could get infected, but I didn't have and antibiotics or solutions in my pack. I only had some gauze. I could wash it in the oasis, but that wouldn't help much. Atleast I had 'no pain'. It was starting to become my best friend.


	5. Unraveled Mysteries

It didn't take long for us to set out again, but this time our roles were reversed. I was the one five steps ahead. The banter was both ways this time though.

"How did you survive all this time if you move so slowly?"

"Luck, I guess. Karen was always there to support me if my back gave out or sunstroke was setting in." I replied as if she didn't already know that.

"When she was taken I had to improvise, spending more time in shaded areas and take it slow. Who would've though my back could give out from walking?" That much I wanted to know. Sure, I've never lived an active life before the invasion, but I wasn't sedentary.

"Karen thought it was because of all the rocks you slept on." I didn't feel the need to reply. That had always been a point of arguing between Karen and I. She never could accept that it was safer to sleep on solid ground.

"How far is this place?" I didn't respond; it was my turn to cold shoulder. A bullet zipped past my side.

"I'm not playing games, Mike!" She barked in a manner that, if she didn't have a gun, would've made me smirk.

"I don't need to tell you. The less of this area you know about, the safer I'll be when we part ways." Now we both knew she'd never hold up her end of this arrangement, but the charade had to go on until it was safe to make an escape.

"You would act this crazy a woman holding a gun?"

"You would be crazy enough to kill your only means of survival?"

We stopped to find shade in the hottest part of the day wouldn't kill us. I took another doze of 'no pain' to spare myself from the agony of walking too much and the gash on my side. May gave me a concerned look. She was strange, even for a seeker. One moment she had no problems shooting me, and the next moment she was worried about my health.

I laid down in the shade for a second, and felt something wet on my side. I jumped up; May was trying to wash my wound.

"Save the water, this 'no pain' will get me through the worst of it."

"'No pain' only masks your injuries, it doesn't treat them. If you don't let me dress your wound then infection will set in."

"Yeah, that would be such a terrible thing I'm sure."

She sneered. "Don't you even care about your well being?" I almost laughed.

"Seeker, I travel the desert by myself, eat cold beans from cans and my only joy is sleeping so I can remember what warm food used to taste like. What part of this picture seems worth living to you?"

"If you hate yourself that much then you should've just turned yourself in. Any soul would love to be you." She grumbled as she continued her work. That was a lie, I had one other joy in life, and that was living. Every moment I lived, every breath I drew, every day I woke, was one more testament to humanity and one less life souls could claim to have taken.

Only ten minutes had passed before she had finished cleaning my gash, and it was still too hot to travel by. I didn't want to talk to a sworn enemy, but there was little else to do that didn't consume precious resources.

"Why do you care? It's not like my death would make your job any harder." That was a good conversation started, right? She blinked, almost as if she was forming an answer she could believe herself.

"Like you said, I couldn't get back if you were dead."

"Infection would take longer than two days to kill me, and even then I think you could find an oasis by yourself."

"Are you saying you want to die?" She asked, half irritated and half curious.

"I could go either way right now."

"How could anyone so callously take their life for granted?"

"What life?" There was silence for a moment, and then she finally connected the dots.

"I should've been there; I should've saved her from the seekers, but… I was too scared. I was too afraid of losing my life that I gave it away. She's gone, isn't she? She's gone, and she took my will to live with her." May looked dumbfounded.

"If Karen's anywhere left in there, tell her I love her. Tell her I'm sorry I should've saved her, and tell her I miss her so much."

"She's not." May answered somberly.

"I never even had a chance to tell her goodbye. The seekers were on us before we could blink. I was supposed to be the one to be taken. I tried my damnest to get their attention, but May was weighed down by our supplies. They knew that; they knew she was a better opportunity."

"She was just a mate." May tried to reason. I tried to glare at her, but her face was more than I could bear at the moment. Even with silver, those green eyes hurt too much.

"I knew a soul would never understand, especially a seeker."

"I understand more than you think Mike! I'm a soul, not a zombie." She barked. The pity party stopped for a moment, as I snickered.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, its just-zombie?" I kept snickering, and she joined in.

"What? Why is that so funny?"

"It was just so random. You can't help but laugh." Snickering turned to laughter for a brief moment. I hadn't laughed that hard in a while, and I don't think she had either. She smiled at me for a minute, until she realized that I was human and went back to her serious pose.

"So why do seekers carry guns? Even before the invasion peace keepers had nonlethal weapons."

"Yes, but seekers double as both police and military. Humans are still dangerous, and we don't always have the luxury of playing it safe."

"I'd imagine most humans only act aggressive because of all they lost. Most just want to be left alone." She was looking at me, but I was on my back, still sweltering from the heat. My skin was beat red from the sun.

"You can't blame us for discovering your world and not liking what it was becoming."

"But even if you only came with the intention of helping, there were other options of going about it. You can't deny that there was some greed by your race to experience emotions and life they can only fathom while floating around as bugs."

"We've had this argument before. If souls met humans in person, there would have been bloodbaths."

I looked up at her. "We never had this conversation. Karen and I did, and I told her-"

"That it would've been better that way, because at least humans would have had a choice in the matter." I nodded.

"Tell me, why did Karen ever like the desert? It's hot, dry and terribly uncomfortable." She smiled wryly.

"Because it's where she met you, so she associated it with your love."

"Our love was intolerably uncomfortable?"

"No, it was warm, welcoming and a safety net for her." A lot of good that safety net provided. When the sun cooled down we continued on the beaten path in the same manner, but now May only kept three steps away from me.


	6. Betrayed

We were dead. We woke up that night to discover that one of the two remaining water bottles had been leaking. We had been pushing our luck as it was, but now there was no way we could make it to the oasis. To make matters worse, my 'no pain' had run empty.

"You have to die sometime." I reminded, my body slowly returning to the unbearable agony it had been facing without my drugs. Now I hurt worse than ever, and knew I was doomed.

May was in a state panic. I was sure that her inability to change the situation made her feel like suffocating.

"Can't we do anything?" She asked me desperately.

"Our destination is two days away. Even if we weren't in the desert I doubt we would make it that far without water." I was blunt, and at the same time mad at myself for not going to Washington like I should have in the first place. This would never be a problem in a place where water falls from the sky!

"The best we can do is try, and hope that maybe somebody up there loves us."

That hope was dashed not long after we set out, leaving behind anything that could slow us down, which included half of our food. May kept the weapons though, and gave me the pleasant job of telling her she couldn't have any water yet.

That seeker had drastically changed since we began this death trek. Her skin had gone from olive to borderline brown, with her sandy hair being complemented by actual sand. She was starting to look more like Karen by the second. I hadn't changed much, but had little room for change since square one of the journey.

By the end of the day we were down to half a bottle of water and a few cupcakes. The sun seemed to take longer to go over the horizon, as if it was mocking us.

"It's getting dark. I think we should stop for the night." I told her. She gave a nod as I collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion.

May believed, as Karen used to, that predators prowled at night, so she was insisting that she stand guard at night. I tried to reason that doing such a thing would exhaust her and delay our trip, but again she refused to listen. She wanted me to eat, but I refused the food and water to wash my wound. We needed to conserve or we wouldn't last another day.

I pretended to sleep while I waited for May to nod off. I knew she would sooner or later, and then I'd be back in control. I planned to keep my promise, but I know she'd never keep up her side. For one thing she obviously felt guilty about my wound. Not to mention that she still had a duty to bring me in. I had no choice but to reestablish control.

When May started snoring I slowly crept out of the one sleeping bag we had. Walking with only my socks on, I sneaked up to her to relieve her of one of the guns.

Too late I realized she had been faking. With the gun fastened to my chin, I slowly got up. It was my turn to be tied up for the night. I should've known she wasn't stupid enough to trust me. It was not until late at night, when a kayote howled that she decided to join me in my sleeping bag, as if a restrained refugee was some kind of deterrent to a normally harmless animal.

"They're harmless May. Pet dogs are more dangerous."

"I don't care." She said with a terrified tone. We huddled together for warmth, but it wasn't the same as when Karen and I used to huddle together. There was no love or welcome in our closeness, and I couldn't get comfortable with my hands behind my back. Eventually when she was in a deep sleep, May put an amber arm around me. Maybe part of Karen was left in there after all. Neither of us slept well.

It was in the morning when I finally saw something notable, footprints. They had to be fresh; the wind would've blown away steps. That meant that the seekers were combing the desert for us. I imagined they missed us by a hair, and had followed us by what we left behind. I was lucky.

I wasn't sure what was buzzing through Mays mind, but I knew that if she saw those tracks, it would be over for me. For one thing they led to the oasis, which meant I wouldn't be needed. Not mention she'd have no problem following them if she though it led to more seekers. While May gathered her strength for the last bit of path we had to travel, I made for the desert quietly. My arms were still bound, but I didn't need those to run. Too bad May assumed I wouldn't make a break for it if need be.

Being caught off guard caused May to panic. I didn't see her pull out her gun, but the gunshots were loud enough for me to figure out. She was aiming low, for my legs. I wonder what seekers earned for their efforts.

After six minutes I collapsed. Pain and exhaustion overtook me. Yeah, it was a stupid move, but this whole trip had been a stupid move. It didn't take long for that damn seeker to find me again. This time she had her weapon primed.

"I gather you found the tracks." May broke the silence with a bitter tone.

"Yeah, your friends are here, so why don't you go be with them and leave me."

"We both know I can't do that." He voice was unwavering. One way or another I was going to die, that much I knew.

"Please, I'm not going to be a problem. There's not a chance I'll even live to see tomorrow. Just leave me here."

"I can't leave you Mike. I'm not losing you again."

"I'm gonna make this clear May; the only way I'm going to Phoenix is in a body bag." I said, anger in my voice. I should've shot her long ago, but atleast I was right. I wasn't the animal, they were. They were merciless and malevolent, not humanity.

"You're as stubborn as I remember, Mike." She replied as she brought the butt of the pistol crashing down. I blocked as best I could, but my strength was gone with that last desperate dash. My block accomplished little as the I blacked out. Karen... I'm so sorry.


	7. Dreams

I began to dream. I dreamt of my life, of my love, and of my loss. I was pulled back into reality every few minutes, but immediately retreated to my last bastion. My mind went to my birthday.

"_Ok, you can open your eyes." Karen says joyfully. I put my hands down, and in a small baggy is a baby cactus. I laugh harder than ever before._

"_What, you don't like it?" She asks half offended._

"_No, it's great, but for some reason it was the last thing I expected in a desert." I kept laughing, and she joined in. We were hysterical from her present. Her gift was a few moments of joy._

_We cuddle at night to keep warm. I wrap my arms around her stomach. One day I hope it holds a little miracle. Part of me hopes desperately that it never happens. I can't imagine bringing a child into this world. The other part knows our love will keep it strong, and give hope to humanity. I kiss her sandy cheek goodnight, and then tucker out myself. This was the best birthday of my life…_

I gasped in pain. My wound stung deep and burned, despite my concussed state. Desperately, I escape to back when we were running.

"_Experts are urging that everyone remain in their homes and do not worry. The local law enforcement claims it is merely searching for an escaped criminal."_

_I know that's a load of crap. I just saw the same 'experts' drag my sister out into the street, cut open her head and shove what looked like a silver centipede the size of my fist into her skull. If I hadn't hidden in the attic they would've found me too. Rapidly I pack: food, clothes, water, and a med kit. I know this isn't a situation that will just 'blow over'. They're trying to take our bodies. The last thing I take is my trust pocket knife; it may save me one day._

_"NO!!!! GO AWAY!!!" I hear from outside. They got another person, a girl by the sound of things. I rush outside. They have that one snobby girl, Karen. I rush over and shove the guy struggling with her._

_"__Run!" I shout and before anyone can respond we're running for dear life. I know we'll never make it, but we have to try._

The last dream I have is more of a nightmare than a flashback.

_I lay strapped to a chair, unable to move my body. I lay on my stomach, with my neck clearly exposed. The docs gave me a doze of something to numb me and to make sure I didn't struggle._

_"__Shall we begin?" A man asks cheerfully._

_"__At once doctor." A female responds. _

_I feel a cut, but no pain. I want to scream anyway. I know what they're doing, and it's worse than murder. _

_"__Where did they find him?"_

_"__They found him half dead in the desert. The poor human was dehydrated, starving and had a nasty infection. A good thing he survived. He'll make an excellent host._

_(NO!) I try to scream. They open the wound some more to give the brainbug some space to move about. I feel something else, crawling. It's entering my head, sinking deeper and deeper. It starts to latch into my nervous system. I feel myself lose control of my own body. The doctors patch up the wound and unbuckle me. I'm no longer in control…_

Finally I blacked out. I didn't expect to wake up…


	8. Redemption

I kept my eyes closed, afraid to face the world, and see what I had become. I didn't feel possessed, but my head was still throbbing.

"Is he going to be ok healer?"

"Doctor, call me a doctor May."

"Well?"

"He'll be fine. You're lucky, any later and he wouldn't have made it." I felt a spray on my face, and smelled something with citrus, like kiwi. I knew I couldn't fake being asleep anymore; the kiwi had made me alert and focused.

My eyes shot open and May and another soul was hovering over me. Angrily, I tried to force my way off the tacky green couch I had been laying on. Fortunately, I was stronger than my captors.

"Mike, Mike! You're safe! I can explain!" I wasn't in the mood to listen, but since she was addressing me I must have still been myself. I pushed the doctor away and forced myself up. I wanted to scream, but thanks to the spray my rationalization capabilities returned, and I gathered screaming would be a bad move.

May wasn't dressed like a seeker anymore; she was wearing a t-shirt with flowers painted on it and blue jeans. She had managed to get the sand out of her hair, which led me to believe I had been out for longer than a couple of hours. We were in Karen's old house; I could tell by the green wallpaper I had frequently complained to her about.

Without hesitation I marched past my captors into the kitchen, grabbed a can of whatever drink I could find and guzzled it down without a thought. It was tomato juice, but it was better than nothing.

The doctor had gotten back on his feet by the time I returned. He was a small man with black hair and an easily forgettable face. I focused more on May, and her explanation as to what was happening. Gratitude for the fact I wasn't a brainbug was lost on me.

"Doctor, I think that will be all for today." May said bluntly, keeping focus on me. The doctor walked past me with a less than amused look. He must have been going home.

When the door shut, May had a seat, and invited me to do the same. I didn't budge.

"Mike…"

"May. Care to tell me what's going on?"

"I told you I wasn't going to lose you again."

"You never lost me before." I replied bluntly. Her eyes watered, but she kept going.

"I saved you from the seekers, they don't know you're here and neither does anyone besides the healer- erm, doctor."

"So?" I replied, curious as to what was my next move.

"So the doctor is a human that has been working with a dozen souls to build an underground railroad for survivors. There's more than you think, and their numbers have been growing."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems the humans found a way to remove souls, and it's been working more than it's been failing." I felt my mind go numb for a moment, unable to comprehend what that meant, and why a seeker was telling me this."

"Karen?"

"No, May." She answered. It was true; there was still silver in her eyes. I frowned for a moment.

"Mike, it seems you proved your point in the desert. I can't turn you in even if I wanted to, and I couldn't do my job anymore. As of last week I became a barista for a coffee bar." I smiled, Karen used to be barista before this ordeal. May returned the smile.

"Wait a minute, last week? How long was I out."

"You were out for a while. First I had to bring you in and get you healed up, and then you were inserted." I glared, and May flustered.

"Don't worry, it was only for a few seconds. No soul had a chance to harm you. It was just to make sure the seekers weren't suspicious. But after you were fixed up I brought your body here and removed the soul." That was a relief, and I was happy to finally have my back straightened out, but even the thought of one of those things in my head bothered me.

"How?" I was pacing the room now.

"With the doctor's help. A few of the souls at the hospital are underground agents that were more than willing to help move your body. The doctor told me who I could trust."

"Wait, underground agents? I thought you souls all trusted each other."

"We do, which is why we got away with this. Apparently, thanks to some brave female soul a few years back several of our people have been shifting. Many feel what we've been doing is wrong and are trying to right things."

"How many is many?" She frowned.

"Not as many as there should be, but after what I've seen there's one more. You humans are savage, but it wasn't right to do what we did."

I wasn't sure what I was happier to hear, that I wasn't going to die, that humanity had finally started making a comeback, or that I was healthy again.

"But if I remember correctly, that's not what you said in the desert." I said with a bit of glee.

"I said a lot of things I didn't mean to. I believe it was you humans that practice the idea of forgiveness." She retorted. Touché May.

"So, what happens next?" I finally asked.

"Well… you can go be with the humans or you can return to the desert." I shrugged, neither of those premises sounded good right now. True I did want to see humanity again, but strangers were still strangers.

"You could… stay with me." She squeaked. I had to strain to hear her. When I finally comprehended what she had said, I was a bit taken aback.

"I don't think that would work May, with the whole me being human thing." I said more callously than I had liked to.

"But no one would have to know you're here. You could hide here in safety." I sighed.

"May… I really appreciate what you went through for me. What you did I could never hope to repay, but it couldn't work." I looked into her eyes. They were watering heavily now.

"I still see Karen when I look into your face. You still smell like her, and sometimes, even with your blossoming personality, you sound like her. It would be too painful." When May had finally registered all that I just said, she bolted to her room, sobbing uncontrollably.

I was left wondering, how? How could she be hurt by me turning her down when she knew whose body she was wearing? I meant everything I had told her. The only comparison I had to go by for what I felt was a couple not being able to stay together because of the death of a child. Loss, and everything that reminds you of that loss, is too painful to bear.

After a few moments, I knocked on her door. When she didn't answer I opened the door and walked in. She was sobbing into her pillow. I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"May… I'm sorry."

"I wish I'd never had been put into this body."

I smiled for a moment. "But then you would never have met me, and then wouldn't have really wished for that." She looked at me with a puzzled glance.

"I miss her so much." I told her, hoping she would understand. I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at picture of fruit that must have been drawn by Karen long ago.

"The first thing I felt in this body was what she felt for you. I imagine she would be feeling the same way if she could." May got up, and joined me at the edge of the bed. I don't know what compelled me, but I placed and arm around her shoulders. She rested a tear filled eye on mine.

"She loved you."

"I know." I said forlornly. I had to make a choice, but somehow I knew I wouldn't like whatever choice I made.


	9. suspicions

May was kind enough to let me stay in her house while I planned what I was going to do. She had been pushing for me to stay with her the night before, or at least join the humans in hiding.

"I would be happy to know that you're safe." She told me before going to sleep. The following morning I woke up on her couch when she had already left. My day started late, as I had no real activities to do.

Had I known how boring the life of a soul was, I would have wished May had shot me in the desert. I had no idea what made souls so happy, but it sure wasn't their entertainment. That day I discovered, to my dismay, was that souls no longer played contact sports or condoned anything with a pinch of potential for violence. All of their television shows made Bill Cosby look like Genghis Kahn, and their literature was no different. Wasn't conflict resolution the point of stories?

One show was good, while not exciting. It was an animal channel that covered species from other regions of space. I wasn't really into biology, and they never showed anything like feeding, but it beat watching the clock tick. I learned more about May's flower people, and their lives. The flowers were apparently considered more than food only after many of them were eaten by a species called 'fire sniffers'. Strange…

The rest of the day was spent sleeping, doing chores, and hiding that one time someone knocked on May's door. It looked like her old partner. He left a note on the door. I wasn't one to impede on other people… erm… soul's privacy, but curiosity got the better of me. When I was sure no one was looking, I scooped the unsealed envelope up quietly and snuck it to the living room, which had more lights than any other room since it was windowless.

I opened the letter carefully, trying not to damage it. I could barely read the handwriting, but I tried.

_We need to talk. I know you're hiding something from me, and I know you don't want to, but I need to protect you from whatever secrets you're holding. Meet me at the diner we met in tomorrow at seven, and please be careful…_

I suddenly felt a strong urge to hide. Grateful that he hadn't decided to do any snooping, but still worried, I spent the rest of the day hiding in the attic. I didn't realize May had come home until after she spent an hour searching for me. When she had come upstairs with a flashlight I nearly hit her until I realized it was May.

"What are you doing up here? You had me worried sick!" She reprimanded me. I didn't say anything, but handed her the note gently. She read it, blinked, and then read it again.

"Who?"

"You're friend. Apparently not all souls are as trusting as you thought."

"He's just worried. I used to be so committed to my job." She said that as if it would provide me with some comfort.

"He'll start poking around, and we can't do anything without alerting suspicion."

"You're right… so what now?" We both knew the answer.

"These humans, are they friendly?" May bit her lip, never a good sign.

"Several souls seem to think so. I only know the doc, but he swears they are harmless." I didn't want it to happen like this.

"It will take some time to get everything prepared. The doc doesn't just ferry people one by one; he gathers a few people and moves them at once. It's safer that way."

"How long do we have?"

"A week, maybe two. I'll have to contact him, which won't be easy if my old partner starts investigating. In the mean time I think you should be as quiet as possible." I nodded.

"He's a soul, how perceptive can he be?"

"His host used to be Phoenix's most notorious detective. He used to bust politicians for corruption." I let out a deep sigh, trying desperately not to panic. I didn't think it was possible, but things just got much worse.

"What about you May? Will you be alright?"

"Souls would never harm one another. The worst-case scenario would be that they… removed me from Karen's body and put me in someone else." I shuttered, thinking about losing May like that. Perhaps losing was too strong a word… but it fit the bill at the moment. May stared blankly until put a hand on her shoulder. She gave a weak smile.

"Let's get out of this attic." I finally said. I was going to spend the night there behind a box of heirlooms anyway. The attic cooled at night, but in the morning it was going to bake in the desert sun. May and I spent the rest of the night reciting what she was going to tell the seeker, how to lie and planning our escape if it all failed. I couldn't help but feel she was holding something from me, but maybe it was just her fear.


	10. Endangered

Endangered:

For the next week and a half I felt like I was in a war. Long periods of boredom were broken up occasionally by terrifying and potentially life-threatening events that never seemed to end. When I wasn't pacing around the house looking for anything to do I was hiding in a corner or sneaking up to the attic.

The ordeal began spiraling out of hand right after May had meet her former partner at the coffee bar she had been working at. Being the persuasive parasite that he was, the 'man' May called Jim had talked her out of resigning from the seekers. She told me that he was convinced it was just the stress of finding me that had caused her to resign, and that she only came back because she felt she could protect the humans better from the position of a seeker. While it might have been partially true, we both knew the seeker had just pressured her.

That of course, didn't cause him to stop keeping tabs on both May and her house. Four times in a week he had prowled outside looking for anything suspicious, and was so bold as to snoop around the house. I had only narrowly avoided him when he let himself in by ducking under May's bed.

As if the seeker hadn't been bad, May had been acting stranger with each day. Some days she'd come home and just seem so distant, not wanting to do anything but sleep, and other days she couldn't stop crying about how miserable she'd been without me, and that I completed her and that she couldn't bare to lose me. I had no idea what she did at her office, but it couldn't have been good. I don't think souls are adept at handling regular emotions, let alone those of a human female. I know if Karen ever heard me say this she'd kill me, but it would be like learning to drive in a car that ran purely on nitrous oxide.

We both finally came to the conclusion I couldn't stay at the same time, and it was the second most physically terrifying moment in my life. May had gotten home from the office fatigued beyond reason and had learned why after work most humans did little besides order takeout and watch TV, which is exactly what we had decided to do. She had spent 9 grueling hours behind a desk filing away paperwork on reports; most of which was reporting on how wonderful life was for the parasites, but I've yet to meet the person that enjoyed paper pushing.

May felt like laying down while watching TV, but her couch wasn't big enough so she ended up using me as a pillow. I admit I was slightly uncomfortable by the arrangement simply for the fact I felt like I was cheating on Karen, even if the gesture was platonic in nature and May was just tired. Of course, adhering to Murphy's Law by the letter, nature called about five minutes after we were both comfortable.

"Sorry May, but I have to go." She sighed, knowing it meant she had to get up.

"Could you get me a soda while you're up at least?"

"Sure."

I walked out of the living room, down the hall and took a right to where the bathroom was, where I was greeted with a gun to my face. I no longer had to use the bathroom.

Jim had been waiting for the moment for at least a few hours, and now he could shoot me without any consequences. I wondered if May had any part of this, but discarded it knowing that It was simply too unfeasible for her.

We stood there for what felt like a year, staring each other in the face. He grimaced with a look that read 'if you scream I will shoot you', while I tried to return with an 'I'm going to stop you' look. Lowering the gun slightly, he gestured towards the screen door in the kitchen that led out back.

"May, I'm gonna step out for a moment and get some fresh air." I said as loudly but as calmly as I could. I didn't want her endangered if this got ugly, and I knew this was going to get ugly. May gave a half-asleep acknowledgement.

A cool breeze hit my face as I stepped outside. Jim slammed the sliding glass door closed, and then brought the butt of his gun down hard against my back. I tumbled like a newborn calf, feeling a throbbing pain where I knew I'd be sore if I lived to see tomorrow.

"So the cockroach survived. Somehow I'm not surprised." He spat.

"That's not very lovey-dovey of you, parasite." He kicked me in the ribs as hard as he could, which must have been pretty hard because I thought I heard a crack. I groaned, cursed than retorted.

"Y'know, you're really losing points for compassion here." Another kick, I wanted to black out. Most people at this point would have made some attempt to protect themselves, but then again most people aren't attacked with a gun in their face.

"Stop the games, just kill me already!" I spat. He could, he had a gun and the authority to do so. No one could stop him from taking my life as he took so many others, and that stuck me as ironic for reasons I couldn't fully understand until he finally spoke.

"If I wanted you dead you'd be dead. May found you and nursed you like a stray. I love her good-willed nature, which is why I'm letting her keep a pet around."

"Go to Hell!" I shouted.

"May can't help but see you for what her host thought of you. She's too busy seeing the sincerity to notice the fact you're still a human, and a raving lunatic even by human standards." He was pacing, I was nervous. The only thing more dangerous than an armed man is an armed man who's desperate. Even though he was at least a foot shorter than me he still held an aura of intimidation, probably just from the weight of his position.

"This doesn't make sense, May was a great seeker. How could she lose her edge because of one savage?" Jim was more jittery than an 8 year old on a sugar high. He was sweating even though it was cold, and pacing like a man waiting for his wife to deliver a baby. All the pieces fell into place at the same time and the answer hit me like a steel train, he was in love with May.

That realization made it hard to loath this partially demented seeker. It was hard to stack hatred onto piles of oozing pity. He was in love with May, and May was in love with me, not him. If I were him I'd probably want to shoot me too. After a moment of pondering his next move, he finally turned to me

"This is the only warning you get, stay away from her. I'm never going to stop watching you while you're under this roof. If you touch her then they'll find you in that dessert she pulled you out of."

Now I could have told him the truth, that I wasn't romantically interested in May. I could have told him that she wasn't my girl, that I was only staying here because I had no real place to go, and that I would soon be gone. For some reason though, I did what I assumed most guys would do in my situation. I refused to let his ego recover from the blow I had dealt.

"You might want to leave before my sweet petal sees this, or at least put the gun away. After all, May's good nature won't overlook you're idiocy."

I was going to have a hard time explaining why my lip was bleeding, and why I had an awkward limp when I walked after an evening stroll. May's partner couldn't kill me, at least not until I was out of May's circle of safety. If he did then they'd link May to me and extract her from Karen's body, and he knew that. Still, that didn't stop him from beating the hell out of me that night.

It left me with one important thing to think about. Out of all the girls I've dated, I've only been beaten up for one, and that girl was Karen. I had asked her out and she told her boyfriend, and I thought that somehow beating him up would get her to like me. I failed to realize beforehand that he was a better fighter.

After Kim left, satisfied that he had gotten his point across, I pulled myself off the ground as I had done so many times before in the dessert. I wiped the blood from my lip and brushed the dust off my shirt. I grabbed a soda from the fridge and went back into the living room.

"Here's your soda May." I said, still looking like death warmed over.


	11. Confronted

Confronted

"Hold still or you're ribs wont mend properly." Doc ordered in an irritated tone.

We were at an abandoned grapefruit farm just outside the city where I had taken shelter after my friendly encounter with May's partner. It smelled like rotting oranges and looked rundown; two obvious signs that souls didn't come here anymore. The doc was hard at work wrapping my ribs. It had felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly until I received some no pain, which meant that I had at least a fracture.

May didn't know that I was here, that I was hurt, or even that she worked with a psycho by even human standards. I had retreated to the attic quickly last night in order to avoid confrontation by her. She couldn't know that her partner knew, or she's do something about it and then she'd be removed from Karen. I kept telling myself that the end result of all this was in order to protect Karen's body

And that wouldn't be a lie either. May was nice, caring and, for a seeker, a decent soul. She also tried to kill me twice and did kill my girlfriend. Sparing my life made us somewhat even, but I couldn't keep hiding that even if I didn't hate her anymore, I still didn't trust her. She was, after all, a seeker. With that knowledge I concluded that the best thing for the both of us was for me to just leave.

Accompanying Doc was another survivor. She was tall, sandy and looked like she could handle the tazer she had on her. They had paid a visit to see if I was actually safe from the seekers, and if I was ready to leave yet. Sadly, I wasn't on either account. They had a soul with them, which I couldn't entirely understand. She was small, even smaller than Karen, and looked like she couldn't hold her end of a fight against an eight year old. I wondered what she was doing here.

"This doesn't make any sense, you're telling us a seeker knew you were in that seeker's house and didn't capture you?"

"He said he was allowing May to keep pets." The sandy-haired woman eyed me like I had told a joke at a funeral. I shrugged, not entirely sure what she wanted from me.

"His words, not mine."

"Well Wanda?" The Doc asked the soul. She blinked like she had just snapped out of a daydream.

"It's not entirely impossible for a soul to be aggressive, but I've never heard of one acting like this. Not even Lacey's soul was this aggressive."

"To be fair he did think I was moving in on his girl. He said he wouldn't stop watching me, and that if I touched her he'd kill me." This wasn't new news; we had made sure we weren't followed, but it begged to be repeated.

Wanda shook her head. "Souls don't kill, least of all for revenge."

"I hate to disagree kid, but I don't think he was bluffing." Doc finished tapping me up and cut the excess tape off.

"Be that as it may, we're still not ready to move the survivors out I'm afraid. We're already taking a lot of chances bringing you here, and now we have to factor your seeker friend into the equation." It took me a moment to realize they weren't talking about Jim

I glowered for a moment. "So I'm on my own then?"

"Only for a bit longer. We can't jeopardize everything we've been working to accomplish to save one person."

"But Mel we can't leave him to die." I was amazed the soul was actually supporting me. The woman named Mel let out a sigh.

"What about the seeker you're staying with, can you trust her?" Doc interjected. I glanced at him to answer

"She says she cares about me, and that she can't lose me, but I don't trust her. She is still a…" I was going to say soul then I remembered the company I was with "a Seeker."

"That's true, seekers can be capable liars when they need to be." The doc was stroking his five-o'clock shadow as he pondered the situation.

"Hold on doc, remember when me and Wanda showed up at the safe house. Wanda controlled me, but she still couldn't bring herself to betray Jamie and Jared." Still not a convincing argument, no matter how you slice it.

"Yes, but Wanda hadn't removed you from your body. When I spoke to this seeker it was apparent that she had established complete control over her human."

"Karen." I amended. She may be gone, but she was going to be respected. "So you're saying that if I can prove she actually does have feelings for me, she can be trusted to help me?"

"Help us." Mel amended. "If she is trustworthy then it means we have someone on the inside. We can know what the seekers are up to and avoid them, maybe even undermine them. You help us make sure she is trustworthy and we can get you to safety a lot faster."

"How do I do that?" I asked honestly. How do you tell if someone does love you, and isn't just saying they do? The soul put an arm on my shoulder.

"You can do that with a kiss…"

They brought me home later than I had hoped, but it was necessary to travel during rush hour to avoid attention. Rush hour didn't have the same meaning it used to have. No one sped or violated the rules of the road anymore. There was no road rage, less traffic and when there actually was an accident people rushed to the scene in order to help. I wasn't sure what insanity was anymore.

May practically tackled me with a hug when I entered the house, which wasn't really to my benefit. She was wearing jean shorts that were cut to her thighs and a tank top, both showing her sun-baked and smooth skin. It looked like she had spent all day at a beach, not at work.

"You had me so worried. Where were you?" Two impulses hit me at the same time and canceled each other out. One to hug Karen tightly, and one to recoil from a potential seeker. It was like two dogs on the same leash sprinting in opposite directions. In the end I just stood there awkwardly.

"Is something wrong?" She asked sincerely.

"Everything's fine, I just had a long visit with our mutual friends about getting me to safety."

"Mike we need to talk. I know about Jim's visit last night and what happened."

"You do?" I was almost panicking. She can't get involved. They'll kill her, I mean Karen.

"We should sit down first."

We sat at the small kitchen table with the awkward widen chairs. I managed to pick the wobbly one, as I always seem to do.

"Jim told me everything about last night. I want to know is it true?" I couldn't lie to her.

"Yes, it's true." She put her hands to her mouth in disgust.

"Why? Why did you beat him up if he was here to warn us?"

"What!" I almost jumped out of my seat, ran to the seeker's house and punched him in the face.

"He attacked me! I have the gauss to prove it!"

"He told me that he came here to tell us that the humans you were talking to are dangerous. They murder souls and kill humans that won't do the same. He said you wouldn't accept that as the truth and so you attacked him in a fury. Mike, he told me he had to kick you off him or you would have killed him!"

"He knows about the survivors?" I was shaking, not sure how well this would end.

"He said he saw them attacking souls himself. Some they even crushed for fun. Young souls, they picked the young ones out to dissect!"

"That can't be true May. He attacked me! He threatened me and beat me up."

"Then why does he have a black eye, and a broken finger? Souls can't do that to their hosts."

"He's not like normal souls May. He's… evil." I knew when I said evil that I had lost the conversation. Souls never, NEVER act evil. "You have to believe me May."

"Mike I've known him for as long as I've been here. Her can't lie to me. I know him too well."

"May I can prove he's lying." I said with one hand wiping away a tear of hers. "One of the survivors that visited me today was a soul."

She shook her head. "We have reports that some humans use souls as slave labor. She could have just been there to trick you."

"Why? Why would they go through all these leaps to trick me?"

"Because you know a seeker, and that means you know someone with information. They can't appeal to me, but they can appeal to your loyalties to get whatever they need from you."

It was a deception, a deception so woven into the truth that pulling it out would be nearly impossible. Even I was beginning to doubt who to trust. I couldn't believe that the last few humans alive would murder souls indiscriminately, let alone do everything else May claimed they were doing. At the same time, I couldn't deny that in desperation humans have done worse. How could I know that May wasn't just tricking me as she was tricking Jim? How could I know the humans weren't using me? I didn't know who to trust, but I knew who was the enemy; one devious little soul by the name of Jim.

I looked into May's eyes for a moment. They were perfect, even with the silver in them. I asked myself what Karen would do.

"May, do you trust me at least?" She nodded briefly.

"I trust that you have no idea what the humans are up to, and I trust that you love Karen too much to hurt me, but I know you can't trust me Mike. I love you too much now to trust you though, even if you did hurt me."

I wish she hadn't said that. She could be playing the same game, or she could be sincere, I had to know. I couldn't help but crack a grin.

"If the parasite knows I'm here then there's no point melting in the attic anymore. May I'm too wound up to sleep, do you want to go out?"


End file.
